Justice systems can play an important part in improving the lives of poor people. The Department for International Development (DFID) can help improve these systems in ways that are appropriate to the local culture and within available resources. But how should safety, security and access to justice (SSAJ) policy be put into practice?
This guidance note, from DFID’s Governance Department, looks at how DFID’s guidelines could be implemented, with the caveat that each case should be treated individually and that the guidelines should not be read as a manual. All justice systems are different and have many components. Justice matters to poor people. The impact of theft, for example, is more severe if the victim is poor; and a lack of access to justice fosters corruption. A new approach will provide DFID with comparative experience of sector reform to help support national reform initiatives and to influence the agenda of donor programmes.
Safety, security and accessible justice are of great concern to poor people. The Government recognises this and is aware that in many cases formal justice systems fail to protect them. Other findings include:
- Because they lack security, poor people are less likely to invest in improving their own futures
- Efforts by the poor to escape from poverty are hampered by corrupt police and judicial officers. The poor feel insecure about accessing government services
- Respect for the law is reduced due to vigilantism and self-help policing initiatives which citizens are forced into because of poor safety and security. Corruption escalates because of lack of access to justice
- SSAJ is vital for governance and development. Maintaining law and order is a key government responsibility and part of the necessary framework for economic and social development
- The rule of law is linked to economic growth and investment. A well-functioning justice sector promotes better lives for poor people whilst ensuring the protection and promotion of economic and social, as well as civil and political, rights
- State power can be constrained by a strong independent judiciary.
Justice system reform is a neglected issue. DFID suggest two new elements of policy: (1) Basing interventions on a sector instead of single institutions; and (2) looking at the sector from the user’s perspective – particularly the poor and vulnerable. In addition to this:
- Providing support to SSAJ issues is essential for those countries that are involved in a Poverty Reduction Strategy process
- An SSAJ strategy can play an important role in protecting human rights
- The sector approach helps to find suitable entry points, such as the underlying causes of problems common to justice sector institutions, which may be via an intervention in another sector
- Sequencing issues may need to be examined. For example, increasing the supply of legal aid is pointless if judges are corrupt. Judicial corruption would initially have to be tackled
- In challenging traditional systems it is important that the positive aspects, such as the combination of social support and social control, are not lost in implementing changes
- Penal reform could include: Providing alternatives to prison for minor offenders; reducing pre-trial detention; improving prison conditions; and moving towards a process of rehabilitation and re-integration.
